Google Earth

I mentioned in my previous post that I was taking a Google Mapping Course and was just about to start with the Google Earth portion. Well, it has been a long and bumpy road since then, but I think I finally accomplished what I set out to do. I decided that I should start out with a brand, spanking new copy of the Google Earth software version 7.1.1.1580 (beta).

For my final project, I decided to create a narrated tour of lighthouses on Cape Cod and the Islands. I also wanted to include my own photos in this tour. In order to put the photos into the tour, they first needed to be uploaded and have a URL, so the first step was to find the ones I wanted and then edit them in Photoshop and upload them to my site. I could finally add them to my tour bubbles.

Next I wanted to write a script to record so I did a little research for background details and began writing in Pages. When I finished writing, I wanted to print it, but alas Pages and several other applications had frozen and I had to force quit them. Naturally, I hadn't saved yet, so I had to reboot and start all over. (I found out that someone else at the Elementary Tech Teachers' Ning had a similar issue).

At last I got a relatively smooth recording (It's tricky to read and click buttons and come back and find your place). When it played back, however, the bubbles with the photos did not show up in the tour. I discovered in the forum that others were having the same problem and it seemed to be an issue with the latest version of Google Earth. I tried to find the 7.0 version of Google Earth but was unsuccessful. I even downloaded a file that was labelled 7.0.3 but turned out to be 5.? (Today I found that someone posted a link to 7.0.2 and other older versions that is a real Google link). Finally, I decided that I would just upload my project as is with a note to click the markers to see the missing pictures.

Someone posted that they liked my ideas but they didn't hear any narration or see any markers. I re-watched the tutorial and discovered that I hadn't uploaded the correct file so I fixed my error. I asked my husband to check the new file on his computer. We discovered that he actually had 7.0.3 on his computer. Once again (okay, three more tries), I recorded the tour on his computer and lo and behold, all of the bubbles showed up in the tour with photos just the way they were supposed to! So now, I uploaded this successful file to the project uploads.

Well, now that my project was working the way I wanted it to, I decided to embed it in my website. I had earlier found the embed code for a Google Gadget to accomplish this and saved it. The only problem was that I didn't know where my own file went in the code, so I had to find the instructions again. I followed the instructions and my project appeared but there was no play button so I went looking again.  It turns out there is a separate player for a narrated tour so I got the embed code for that and loaded it onto my website. The pictures get cut off, so I uploaded the file and added a download link so people can open it in Google Earth on their own computers. You can see it for yourself on Cape Cod Photo Album.

As I said, this has been a long and winding road, but I'm pretty happy with the final project and I learned a lot along the way.

My Own Content

Although most of the links on Teach the Children Well are to content provided by others, I would like to highlight content that I have created myself.

On the Math page, under the Addition and Subtraction topic is Fact Family Village which is an interactive site of addition and subtraction fact families from zero to ten.

In the Fractions topic is a grid of fraction links that is designed for students to self-differentiate based on interest, learning style, and ability. It is called Fantastic Fractions.

On the Social Studies page, under the Massachusetts topic are two different formats of the same questions about Massachusetts' Role in the American Revolution.  The first is an online crossword puzzle with clues that link to information. The second is a printable set of questions to be used with online questions with links to information.

There are several more links on the Social Studies page. In the Cape Cod topic is Cape Cod Photo Album, pictures from every town on the Cape. Also under that topic is Children's Theatre, a schedule of theatre productions on Cape Cod and within reasonable driving distance. There is a second link to that page under the Theatre topic of the Arts page. In the Elections topic is Electing the President of the United States, a printable set of questions with links that I created for the 2008 election and which I will update as needed for the 2012 election. Under Europe is European Photo Album which includes pictures and information from a vacation that I took with my family in 2000 as well as pictures my daughter took on subsequent trips.

The Other Topics page includes another crossword puzzle that I created called Winter Holiday Customs. This is found near the bottom of the Holidays topic. I have included religious and secular holidays from various faiths and cultures. On this same page are two specialized pages of links to online activities for the 100th Day of School and Gingerbread.